iPSC-Derived Smooth Muscle Progenitors for Treatment of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

In this project, human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived smooth muscle progenitor cells (iPSC-pSMC) were delivered within collagen scaffolds onto the abdominal aortic wall of mice with induced abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA).  The results from this study demonstrate that the transplantation of cell-encapsulated scaffolds onto the abdominal aortic aneurysm could therapeutically halt the expansion of the abdominal aortic aneurysm.  Non-invasive measurements of vessel diameters using ultrasound demonstrated that the iPSC-pSMC group significantly reduced expansion of the vessel wall, whereas the control group which did not receive any cellular treatment showed progressive expansion of the vessel diameter over time.  Non-invasive tracking of the transplanted cells using bioluminescence imaging showed a sharp decline at seven days after cell implantation, but some of the cells remain detectable by histological analysis at 21 days after cell transplantation.  Histological analysis of elastin content revealed relatively disorganized elastin fiber assembly in all treatment groups.  Together, our findings suggest that iPSC-pSMCs are a promising cellular therapy for treatment of AAA.  Future studies aim to determine the biodistribution of the transplanted cells, as well as demonstrating the scalability of this therapeutic approach in a rat model of AAA.